Lamp Post
by Kyra Renee
Summary: What happened in the alley that night was a turning point for them both and the image of her touching her lips beneath the lamp post would be ingrained into his mind for the next ten hundred years.


The biting winter air nipped at the exposed flesh on his face, turning his nose a bright red and numbing the tips of his ears. It was too cold for this, but yet he was doing it anyway. He was a madman. That much was for certain. He hunched his thin shoulders up against the cold and buried his bare hands in his pockets. He should have been smart enough to grab some gloves or at least a hat and scarf. But he his mind had been a muddled mess.

The light from the shop windows spilled onto the snow covered ground and he could almost feel the warmth coming from inside. Almost. He contemplated ducking inside one of the cozy stores just long enough to regain feeling back in his fingers, but he was running on a tight schedule. He brushed past them without another glance, fighting off temptation.

He turned the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. This was it. This was the place he needed to be. His eyes moved along the sidewalk and the crumbling buildings that lined it. Across from him was the beckoning mouth of a ominous alleyway. He shuddered as he tore his blue-grey eyes away from it. He had both ended and began his life in that alleyway and he promised he would never set foot in it again.

He moved towards the shadows, passing beneath a lamp post that had once been in working order. But the thick glass had long ago been shattered and never replaced. The part of the town had been forgotten many years ago. He could remember coming here as a boy when the boarded up windows sported flashy and attractive signs, advertising their many wares and wonders. He had never stopped, though. His father had always been in a hurry and his mother had never been interested. Her interest had been in much darker things, things that even he could not fathom to this day.

He pushed his back up against the wall, keeping both the corner of the street with the lamp post and the alley in sight. He hadn't been to this place in so long that he was surprised he had even remembered how to get to it. But how could he forget? There was no forgetting those memories.

His breath caught in his throat as he watched a shadow round the corner and stop to stand in the spot he had been only moments before. He felt his heart thud in his chest as his eyes widened. Apparently he was not the only one wishing to both remember and forget that night ten years ago.

The figure raised a hand and pressed it against their forehead before moving forward.

He pressed himself against the wall even more in hopes of dissolving entirely into the shadows. His eyes were locked on the feminine figure as she stopped to stare up at the broken lamp post. Even in the darkness, he could see her frown as she began to recall that cold winter night as well.

He had cornered her in the alleyway as she ran for her life, frantic and bloody from an encounter with his comrades. In a last attempt to beg for her life, she had cowered against the wall, shouting out meaningless threats.

"_They'll find me! They'll come after you! They'll know what happened!" _He hadn't been listening. With a flick of his wand he had knocked her to the ground and he had stood over her, sneering. He was going to end it and he could hear the praise he would receive.

"_It ends now,"_ He had told her as he raised his wand, the words on his lips. She clambered back to her feet and stared at him helplessly. Her broken wand was held loosely in her hand and tears stained her dirty face. She was pitiful sight, but he felt no sympathy for her. She was disgusting, a disgrace.

"_Av-"_ The word had barely left his lips when she let out a strangled cry and threw herself forward. He had no time to react and he was certain she was going to wrestle him to the ground and use his own wand against him. The unexpected kiss startled him more than anything and he had been rooted to the spot as she sobbed against his lips.

He entire body was on fire and he was suddenly drained of all energy. He could not push her away, he could not strike her down. He was powerless against her.

"_I'm so sorry,"_ She had sobbed. Sorry? He still had no clue what she had been sorry for. When she had pulled away he had wanted to pull her back to him. He wanted to kiss away all of her troubles and he was disgusted with himself for ever feeling any contempt towards this beautiful creature. One kiss had changed him entirely and it was baffling.

"_Run," _His voice was barely a whisper and she nodded as he passed her his wand. _"Run and don't you dare look back." _There was no argument as she nodded once more, looked at him for a long moment and left without another word.

That had been the end of that and he had led them on a false trail, claiming that she had taken his wand from him by using some sort of dark magic. He had endured the ridicule and it had been worth it knowing that she was alive. He had followed up on her shortly after and he had gone to see her once. But she had pretended not to even see him and so he had left her alone since.

He watched as she removed the glove on her right hand and brought her fingertips to her lips. "Thank you," She murmured, smiling up at the lamp post. She stood like that for a long moment and he considered leaving his hiding spot to go to her, but he didn't think he could handle any sort of confrontation. There was nothing to say, after all.

She turned at last and pulled her glove over her fingers. Her eyes swept over where he was hidden and he felt her gaze burn into him, though he highly doubted that she really saw him. Shaking her head as if dismissing a thought, she hurried back around the side of a building to disappear into the bustling streets.

He emerged from the shadows and moved over to the lamp post. He looked it over for a moment as a smile broke through, "You're welcome." Ten years was a long time, but he would have waited another hundred if it meant hearing those words and seeing her smile. One kiss had made him fall in love. Funny how those things worked.

He shook his head as well as he returned to the street lined with shops and he watched from a distance as she ducked into a cozy café with three others. She hesitated by the door and paused before entering. Her head turned slowly and her eyes found his. For a moment she looked startled and uncomfortable. But when he made no move, she visibly relaxed and offered him a smile. He returned her smile with one f his own and nodded his head. She responded with a single nod and one last long look before stepping inside and allowing the door to close behind her.

One kiss had given him the strength to forget the darkness and see the error in his ways. One kiss had captured his twisted heart forever and he would never forget her for that. He knew now that it was not an act of desperation, but an act of feeling and that was all he had ever wanted. To _feel_. What happened in the alley that night was a turning point for them both and the image of her touching her lips beneath the lamp post would be ingrained into his mind for the next ten hundred years.


End file.
